A long, long time ago, back in 2012, I bought a couple of tea towels from Primark. They were £1 each – one was a seaside one and the other was a typography style one with towns and cities making up the shape of the UK and Ireland. I felt they were too cool to use as tea towels, so one became a wall hanging for my baby’s nursery and the other I sewed into a cushion.
Somewhere along the line, this cushion I made for my own bedroom became Tyler’s prized possession, his ‘pillow’. I can trace it back to 2013, when we moved into my mother-in-law’s for a year. My husband, me and Tyler all lived in the bedroom, and Tyler would lay on the bed to watch TV (this is where his love of Peppa Pig began!)
October 2013 – Tyler at 17 months in my mother-in-law’s house
So he would lay on this cushion and I didn’t think any more of it. Then we moved into our new home in 2015, and whenever Tyler went to lie down, he’d ask for his pillow – “My pillow!” he would cry! I realised he had got attached to this cushion that I had made.
March 2015 – Tyler at 2 and 10 months in our flat
After a while the cushion was looking more and more battered, as I had to undo the side stitches to take off the cover and wash it (this boy is a sweat head!) The print was geting faded, but on the plus side the fabric felt softer after every wash!
The battered look didn’t put off Tyler, he loved it even more and took it whenever we went for a sleepover at his Granny’ house.
December 2015 – Tyler on his way to Granny’s house
This cushion was now 100% Tyler’s, no one else could sleep on it “My pillow!” he would cry.
So the most heart-warming thing happened when his baby sister was born, and he shared his pillow with Lily! She seemed to like it too.
July 2016 – Tyler with his 2 week old sister
October 2016 – Tyler with Lily at 3 months
Anyway, why am I writing about this cushion now? Well, after soooo long, I finally fixed this battered cushion. I ordered a red zip off Ebay for £1.50, got out my sewing machine, put the zip footer on and fixed the frayed edge. Now the cushion looks good as new! Tyler was sooooo happy when I showed him, pulling the zip up and down.
It was sooooo simple to do, I cannot believe I did not do this YEARS earlier!
This is the back of the cushion, for our Scottish and Northern Ireland fans out there 😉
Tyler loves this part of the cushion best as he can read ‘LONDON’. And as he is learning phonics at school, he is slowly starting to read the other towns – well he calls them ‘train stations’!
This was the boy last night, still going to bed with his beloved cushion.
February 2017
I am so glad I bought this £1 tea towel all those years ago!
Has your child got a favourite object that you wouldn’t have expected them to like??
Sabrina x
Linking up to #HomeEtc
Matthew had a comforter we got free from a baby food club, it fell apart in the end!
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Aw it’s so funny what they get attached too! x
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This is lovely, it’s a great use of tea towel and the design is so cool. I love that Tyler is so attached to it. #homeetc
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It is a cool design isn’t it – I just never imagined it would be so loved by my child! x
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That is such a clever idea!! We have a drawer full of tea towels but I’ve never thought about using them for other things. I’ll have to sift through them and see if there are any I can convert.
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Thank you, I don’t know what made me think of it, but it’s so easy to do! x
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What a sweet, sweet story, so glad its had another lease of life X #HomeEtc
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Hehe, I wonder what age he’ll stop sleeping with the cushion! x
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Awww Sabrina!! That’s so sweet!!! My husband has a giant stuffed buffalo that he loved when he was a child — it’s certainly not the cuddliest cuddly toy but he loved it — and has now passed it on to the boys!! Amazing what children gravitate towards isn’t it?! 🙂
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A giant buffalo – now that is different! How cool that it’s been passed on to your boys. I wonder if this cushion will last for Tyler to pass to his future kids haha! x
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What a lovely story from two Primark tea towels. #MarvMondays
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Haha, who knew something so cheap could last so long! x
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This is a great idea! I always wanted my children to have something they was really attached to, blanket/teddies etc but nope! Its going to be lovely to keep and look back on!
#marvmondays
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In a way it’s good they didn’t, when things go missing it’s a nightmare! x
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Oh bless. All over a Primark tea towel! I’ve made a few cushion covers, but never ventured into zips, mainly because I don’t have a zip foot! Gorgeous photos! thanks for sharing for #marvmondays x
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Yes, from Primark of all places! This is the first time I sewed a zip – I was well nervous sewing it, new territory! x
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It still amazes me when my kids love the super cheap items that aren’t really toys. I makes me rethink purchases for birthdays and Christmas all the time because what they actually play with isn’t usually the must have items that the other kids are talking about. Such a cute pillow too! #marvmondays
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Tell me about it, Lily hardly plays with her toys, she’s more excited about remote controls and my coffee mug! x
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What a great idea. It’s funny what they get so attached to! #marvmondays
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It is so funny isnt it! x
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Lovely idea! And SO sweet 🙂 Thanks for sharing, and linking up – much appreciated xx
Jess – #HomeEtc
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Hehe, I have one funny boy 😉 xx
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